Improved sails for ships and other navigable vessels



lowered.

UNITED :STATES PATENT Orario-ia BARTON RICKE'ISON, OF NEV BEDFORD,MASSACHUSETTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 36,4S3, dated Septemberl, lSfrl To all whom t may concern/.-

Be 1t known that 1l, BARTON RICKETSON, of

-New'ledford, in the county of Bristol and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in the Sails of Ships andother Vessels; and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full,clear, andexact description ofthe same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

The first part of myinventiou relates to foreand-aft sails and to squaresails which are divided vertically to allow the yards to be arranged toturn upon the mast with their axes in the same plane with the axis ofthe mast. It consists in an improved mode of attaching the sail or sailsto the mast on one or both sides thereof. This part of the invention isillustrated in Figure 1, which represents a frontA view of part of amast hav-ing applied to it a vertically-divided 'square .sail withst'udding sails;v but the details are illustrated on a larger scale inFigs. 2 and 3, which are respectively a front view of a portion of themast and the appendages for the attach ment of the sails and ahorizontal section Y,ofiheissame out this part of my invention the innerverbical edges of the sail or sails U' U-that is to say, the edge oredges nearest tothe masthave attached to them at suitable intervalstraveling bows P P, which are capableof running freely up and downupright iron rods Q Q, attached to t-hernast E by iron hoopsS Sencircling the latter. The rods Q Q are'of T form in" their transverseand arranged with the head of the T outward and the web next the mast,andthe hoops,'which 'are secured rigidly to the mast'onopposite sides,as shown at 30 30 in Fig. 3, pass through holes provided for them in thesaid' web, the said holes being large enough to permit the rods to passfreely upon them half-way round the-mast to allow the proper adjustmentof the sails. The bows P P have each pivoted to-its two jaws, by pivotsp p, two slide-plates, 32 32, which fitto the ,sides of the web of itsrespective bar within the hat head, as shown in Fig. 3, and so permitthe bow to travel freely up and down the bar'without binding as the sailis raised and The rods Q Q, instead of being applied to run round themast on hoops S S, may be 'hinged to the mast. I propose to use booms atthe-feet of theI courses, and these booms In .carrying may be attachedto the mast hy a hook and eye, or by any other means that will permitthem to swing with the yards.

` The second feature of my invention relates to the attachment of sailsto eachother, and is applicable to the attachment of studdingsails, andgenerally in connection with the vertical division of sails. This isillustrated in Fig. 1, and also in Figs. 2 and'3; and lit eonsists ainthe attachment of studdingsails tothe leeches of the inner or princi palsails,ori11 the attachment of any sailsor portions of sails to theleeches of other sails or portions of sails arranged nearer to themashby means of met-al Slides fitted to run up and down the leeches.Fig. 4 is a face view of the lower portion of one of the principal sailsand of a studdingsail attached to it by the metal slides, and Fig. 5 isa toip view of one of the slides. The slides T T are made with twointernally-concave jaws, 33 33, to fit easily to the leech 3i of theinner sail,"U,v and with the mouth or opening 35, between the jaws, justwide enough to pass freely albng the cloth of the sail, and are se. l

cured rnily to theinner leech of the studdingsail Vby-sewing-,-scizings, or lashings, as shown 'at 36 36 infFig. 4." Thestudding-sail is' intended to be attached at its foot to a boom,W',sliding into and out from the yard A below it,

the arms ofthe yard or a sufficient portion ofv them being made hollowfor the reception of the said booms, and it is hauled up to theextremity of the yard B above and 'to a. boom,

W', fitted to the said yard by means of hah.

yards applied to its upper corners. I prop ose generally to use a doubleleechin this mode of attaching sails, and this is shown in Fig; 4. Theinner leech, 44, is arranged at such*v distance from the outer one, 34,that the lipsof the mouth 35 of the slide T will just work between thetwo leeches. l

The third' feature of my invention consists in furnishing the lowerouter corner of as ail with a metal bar having at its lower end an eyeto form the cringle of the sail and another eye for the attachment ofthe bolt-rope'and extending some distance up the side of the sail, whereit is provided with a cavity for the` reception of the leech of thesail, the object bemetal slides T T, above mentioned, which, as

the outer or studding sail, V, is lowered, all

collect upon lthat portion of the inner sail.

'This part of the invention is illustrated iu Figs. 4 and G, in which X-represents the bar. 37 is the eye which forms the cringle.' 38 is theeye to which the bolt-rope 39 of the sail is attached. The greaterportion of the outer edge of the said bar is made concave, as shown at40 in Fig. 6, for the recept-ion of the leech 3i of the sail, which' issecured to it by seizings 41 41, passing through slots 42 42,v providedin the said bar; but the lower portion, 43, of the said edge is madethin for the mouths ofthe slides T T to pass over. The part ot' the barinside of the concave portion 40 is made thin for the monthsof theslides to pass over.

The inner edge of the bar X is made thin and perforated to sew the sailU to it, as showniat 15 45 in Figs'. 4 and G.

What I vel ai n1 as my invention, and de-sire'tO secure by LettersPatent, isi l. The attachment of 'top-sails and course to masts by meansof rods Q Qand metal slide bows P or slides T T, constructed and appliedsubstantially as herein specified.

2. The attachment of sails or portions of sails to each other by meansof slides T T, se cured to one and fitted -to slidefup and down theleech of the other, substantially as and for- Vitness'es:

JAMES LAIRD,

RICHARDSON GAWLEY.

